Brazil’s Rayssa Leal who won Olympic medal at 13 rose to fame from THIS 2015 viral video

Brazil's Rayssa Leal won the silver medal in the first women’s street skateboarding event in Tokyo on Monday. To congratulate the 13-year-old, the official Twitter handle of the Olympics used the popular ‘how it started’ and ‘how it’s going’ meme template. In the image, the left showed Leal as an amateur skater, dressed as a fairy, the image on the right showed her dressed as a professional holding her board at the Tokyo Olympics. The committee even followed the post with another “updated” image showing the 13-year-old athlete wearing her silver medal. She was among the teenage skateboarders who bagged the top three spots in the event’s maiden appearance at Summer games.

Notably, a seven-year-old Leal rose to fame on the internet when one of her skateboarding videos went viral. The clip, which spread like wildfire on social media in 2015, showed young Leal trying to land on her heelflip while jumping over a set of stairs. While she remains unsuccessful in the first two attempts and possibly got hurt, he managed to get a perfect landing on the third try. The little girl, at the time, was termed as a “fairy princess” because she was dressed in a blue-coloured outfit with angel wings. The clip still remains available on her Instagram page. 

Brazil’s youngest ever Olympic medalist

Leal from Brazil and Momiji Nishiya of Japan who won gold became the youngest ever Olympics medalists for both nations. Leal received a silver medal and bronze was bagged by 16-year-old Funa Nakayama of Japan. Following the victory, Leal said, “Now I can convince all my friends to skateboard everywhere with me” adding that “skateboarding is for everyone.” During the first Street League Skateboarding world tour event in 2019, Leal came in third. Later in July 2019, she eventually grabbed the first position. 

The 13-year-old has also competed in several other international tournaments and qualified for the Olympics maiden skateboarding event for young girls this year. While her dedication to the sport was out for the world to witness since she was seven, internet users across the globe went to praise her for improving in the sport and lauded her achievement at the Tokyo Olympics. 

IMAGE: AP/Instagram